ariana grande - positions (oct. 2020)

it's tight

This is probably the most outré song she’s ever performed on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYZyzo8UJQM

She also covered it 2 years ago for BBC radio 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9wvtSgJ1YM

Interesting, thanks! Didn’t know that

the only track on this i can't ride for is the weeknd one and it's mostly because i hate the fucking weeknd

That unintelligible chorus on positions is so addictive.

This album is fucked up

.. in a good way!

As per usual the fan-made stuff accompanying the album is so sweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ChTg8jtDqg

I think Shut Up might be Top 5 all-time Ariana.

I think more than one of these tracks is top-five Ariana, she has officially claimed her place in the canon

O sorry I misunderstood what top-five meant but yes you got it

I feel like it’s one of those albums where you realize you’re witnessing something, and you re alive to witness it

I think a case can be made that it’s her best album overall. It may lack the depth and ambition of Dangerous Woman; the endearing idiosyncrasies of Sweetener; and the atmosphere and spontaneity of Thank U, Next... but it has no real missteps, and retains the “personal” focus of her past few albums while stepping back into a comfortable, casual, “nothing-left-to-prove” mode.

(and the songs, as always, are fantastic)

Definitely an argument to be made there
The harmonies on this record tho

i think Maura's excellent and only lightly coded coverage in Time on this album crystallized my thinking on just why it seems to be leaving reviewers nonplussed: it's a collection of songs by a woman clearly and severely impacted by trauma that is nonetheless firmly centered on her desire for pleasure and orgasm. That is a treatise and perspective that the pop market is clearly ready for but that many critics are not.

Love that perspective

Like a lot

Also applies to the reception of other sexually forward records in recent memory, thank you for articulating it

for the curious, like myself:

https://time.com/5906180/ariana-grande-positions-review/

I don’t get your “only lightly coded” reference, forks. care to explain?

A few of the songs are fairly explicit, but the lyrics aren’t much different from what’s in Dangerous Woman. A difference, I think, is that these lyrics sound like a woman wrote them; whereas some of DW’s “sex lyrics” sound like a man wrote them for her to sing (...tho I don’t know if that’s actually the case).

At any rate, these lyrics are more “in her voice“; and she also no longer needs a male rapper in the middle of the song to drive the point home (much as I love Future’s verse on “Everyday”).

xp to bc: I don't want to speak to Maura's intentions (and I hope she'll swing by to discuss!), but "even when Grande is singing of self-doubt and uncertainty, she’s fully in her feelings, and knowing that pop can bring a release" seems about as close as Time was likely to let her get to saying that Grande is coming from a complex space but finds it easier to come, so to speak, in the less complex landscape of "pop."

I dunno that I really got into Dangerous Woman (sweetener was probably when i really started hearing Grande) and I'd need to give it another listen, but my memory of it was Grande predominantly playing to the male gaze, whereas four years later she seems to be owning who she is pretty fully. Or basically what you said while i was typing!

forks is talking about “Maura's excellent and only lightly coded coverage in Time” tho

yeah, that was the point i was making. Ariana's tongue-in-cheek lack of disinterest in coding at all ("means i wanna 69 with you / no shit" and basically all of Shut Up) is part of what makes the album sound so refreshing to me.

and thanks for the plaudits surm

sorry, my previous post was to morrisp, I misunderstood their posts as a reply to my question.

(I don’t xp very well when I’ve barely waken up!)

Yes, sorry to be confusing, I was responding to the observation about lyrics generally (not the question about the review).

I actually think it's kinda funny how she sings "Open my mind for ya" (in "Nasty")... like, your mind was already "open" back in "Dangerous Woman," that song explored the theme very thoroughly... what new crazy shit is this skinny real-estate guy into, lol

I guess a way to spin it (per our discussion above) is that she is sort of re-writing those songs from her own "p.o.v."

All the "callback" lyrics are maybe the one thing about this album that I'm not totally in love with... but she talks in that YouTube interview about how she made a point of doing that, how the connections are meaningful to her, etc.

IMO, “Obvious” is (secretly) the best song on the whole album. It’s a total singalong jam, in a classic, straight-up R&B style... gives me so much joy.

3435 is breezily recognizable and so pretty, a good sonic reference to tu nxt indeed

also off the table tho
Everything is just so INSTANT and lush

I wish I could adequately express my love for this wonderful album!

The moment in "Off the Table" when The Weeknd sings, I was toxic, then I was toxic to someone else... – and Ari comes in on "someone else" – gives me goosebumps...

I might have to throw "off the table" a vote tbh

Omg SAME
Exactly when I made this post lol

xp

:)

she is newly engaged... wishing her happiness (of course), but also hope it inspires a fresh round of songwriting/recording!

New documentary looks fun! I never watch those things but it does look neat

It’s basically a well photographed show on the tour, plus some fluffy behind-the-scenes stuff.

Ariana sure has a lot of best friends

Lol, I assumed (hoped) that was an in-joke

It was cool that they showed her rehearsing “Monopoly” w/Victoria, but I wish they had filmed one of the two actual performances of that song on the tour.

deluxe ed., teased:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtLrcvfUYAAUNsL?format=jpg&name=medium

ayyy

Snap, the other tracks are all new (not remixes):

positions deluxe friday 🤍 which of the new additions are u claiming ? https://t.co/FpkiHYLFqt pic.twitter.com/IegiKqjjKz

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 15, 2021

the new traxx are lushhhh

"main thing" is positively aquatic

these are all great, especially "test drive"